What is shopsnoflake? It is my personal online shopping blog where I talk about my adventures buying things on the Internet. But why the name shopsnoflake? Quite simply, it’s because I think of myself as a snowflake, since each individual is unique, just as snowflakes are.

This uniqueness carries over to our shopping habits. Researchers have analyzed people’s shopping behavior and realized that our personalities have quite a lot to do with how we go about buying things.

I for one, love to look for the lowest prices. Sometimes I even buy inferior products because they cost less. While this may seem like an unwise thing to do, my reasoning is that if something is cheap, I will have more money that I can use for other things, even if it means I need to replace the product down the road.…

Hello, I’m Lola. I am currently living in San Diego and I am an avid shopper. I love going to malls on the weekends, but when I don’t have the opportunity to get out, I enjoy shopping online just as much.

The shopping world has become increasingly complex. Being a smart shopper is therefore essential if you want to save money and get good bargains on whatever your purchase. One of the best ways to be a knowledgeable shopper is by making a habit of doing research online. Before going out on a shopping spree, I always like to do the following:

Research price ranges for the items I am interested in purchasing

Red reviews of some of the top brands

See if I can get the product I want used (assuming it’s something I don’t mind buying used

See if there are any online coupons, promotions, or other discount offers I can take advantage of

As you can see, I like to do my homework and be as knowledgeable a shopper as possible. I suggest you take the same approach to shopping.

In this blog, I will be talking about a variety of topics related to shopping. In particular, I will focus on ways to make sure you are getting the lowest price possible for a product. In addition, I will be sharing any coupons or promotions I find on the Internet.…

One of the gripes I used to have with eharmony was that there was no free trial offer available. Other sites, like Match.com and Chemistry.com had free trials, so why not eharmony? The only thing they offered was a free communication weekend that took place once every couple months or so. I always felt that they should also have a limited time free trial that new customers can take advantage of.

Fortunately, this all changed earlier this year. Now, you can use eharmony with some restrictions for free. Specifically, here are the things you can do for free with an eharmony free trial.

Take the personality test and get a personality profile
This was always free, and remains that way.

Receive and review matches
This too was free before. You can view the people you are matched up with, and continue receiving matches as long as you like.

Communicate with your matches
This used to always require an upgrade, but this is no longer the case. Now, you can engage in some guided communication without having it cost you money. You must however upgrade before you are allowed to exchange open messages freely.

One problem, however, is that with a free account from eharmony, you are unable to view pictures of your matches. This may or may not be a huge deal for you, but given that a large part of attraction has to do with physical characteristics, I find this to be a bit of an issue, as shallow as that may sound.

Nevertheless, I find the recent changes at eharmony a huge improvement, and encourage you to check out this site. As you probably know, eharmony creates more marriages than any other dating site, so the odds are in your favor. I tend to thing that if you’re going to invest your time and money in online dating, you might as well go with the website that has the best track record.

If you want to try eharmony, I recommend that you sign up for eHarmony right away.

Quickbooks has long been one of the top accounting programs used by small business owners. This is no surprise, as the program has a lot of things going for it. I’ve used Quickbooks, as well as its sister product Quicken, for over 10 years and have no intention of ever using another accounting program. So what exactly makes Quickbooks so great? Here is a list of just some of the things I like about this software:

It has many great features
For a program that’s known for its simplicity, Quickbooks sure has a lot to offer. You can generate tons of helpful reports, such as Profit and Loss statements and Balance Sheets at a click of the button. Moreover, you can use Quickbooks to generate invoices, manage inventory, and even process payroll. In short, Quickbooks can handle just about any kind of accounting need your small business may have.

There is lots of great training available
Being a widely used program has many advantages, not the least of which is that you will have access to lots of training materials and tutorials. I tend to favor third party tutorials and books, and recommend the Dummies series. You’ll also find a lot of free video tutorials on sites like Youtube, but be aware that some of these videos may be a bit outdated.

It is affordable
Considering everything that Quickbooks does, the price tag is incredibly reasonable. Both a boxed edition and online version of the software is available.If you go for the online edition, make sure you take advantage of the online trial version of Quickbooks.

It is easy to use
I’ll be honest – accounting and finance can be quite complicated, but Quickbooks makes it as easy as possible. You’ll need a rudimentary grasp of accounting principles to use the software competently, but beyond, that much of the program is intuitive. I manage almost everything from my bank account, and the other bookkeeping accounts seem to maintain themselves in good order as long as I keep my eye on that one account. I also like the fact that revising previous transactions is very simple, making Quickbooks a very forgiving software program for those of us who are error-prone.

Once you have the business side of your finances in order, you also need to think about how to manage your personal financial matters. For example, it makes sense to use a program to manage things such as your bank accounts, investments, and even any rental properties you might have. For these types of things, I use Quicken, which is also made by the company, Intuit. This product is easy to use and quite powerful. It’s probably the single most useful software you can have to manage your personal finances.

Quicken is not too expensive, and you can even get a free trial by going to Freetrialspot.com.…

We all reach a point where we must sell our car and get a new one. But what is the best way to get rid of your car? There is no one right way to sell your car, and the method you choose depends on your specific circumstances. Here are some of the more popular ways to get rid of a used vehicle.

1. Sell to a junkyard
If your car no longer works, you can still sell it to a junkyard for some cash. Don’t expect much for the car, but you may still get a few hundred dollars by taking this route. A junkyard will accept cars as long as it still has some good parts, such as spare tires, bumpers, and other parts that can be sold to repair shops.

2. Donate your vehicle
You can also choose to donate your vehicle to charity. If you do this, make sure you work with a charity that allows you to get a tax credit on your charitable contribution. Wheels for Wishes is one great organization you can turn to in order to donate your car and get a tax deduction.

3. Trade in the car for a new vehicle
If your vehicle still runs, most dealerships will accept it as a trade-in. While this is a convenient, quick way to get some value out of your used car, you should be aware that you will get a lot less for your car than you could if you sold it on your own.

4. Sell the car on your own
This is by far the method that requires the most work on your part. However, you are pretty much guaranteed to get the most money by taking on the hassle of selling the car on your own. Some good places to list your used car for sale are Ebay and Craigslist. It’s important to price your car fairly if you want to get a quick sale. Make sure you visit KBB.com and price your car accordingly.

Check out this car information site for helpful articles on tire maintenance and other related topics.

Most of us aren’t computer experts, and that means we can be somewhat at the mercy of salespeople when we are looking for the next printer to buy. This post will provide some guidelines to help you make an educated choice when you’re shopping for a new printer.

The good news is that printer costs have come down significantly over the last decade, and it’s entirely possible to get a very high quality printer for less than a hundred dollars. However, you will also notice that there are quite a few models to select from, and this can make it challenging to determine what the best printer will be for you.

I would start by writing down the exact things you want out of a printer. The choices you have to make will include things like whether or not you want a color or black and white printer, and whether you want additional features such as scanning and faxing capabilities.

Next, go online on sites like Amazon and start browsing through printers that are in your price range. Write down the names of 3 or 4 models that seem to fit your needs well.

Finally, read the reviews for the printers you’re interested in. You can either read the customer reviews on Amazon, or head over to sites like CNET for reviews that are written by professionals. If possible, try to find out how much replacement printer cartridges cost, since this will be your #1 cost after you purchase your printer. It’s also a good idea to find out the return policy of the store you’re buying from, so you have the option to return or exchange the item if you find that the printer you buy is not the right one for you.

You can get cheap inkjet cartridges if you buy them online and use 4inkjets coupon codes.…

Contact lenses have never been as popular as they are today. With advancements in technology, many modern day soft contacts are very comfortable and can be worn for extended periods. For maximum comfort, I recommend getting daily disposables. However, since they are also the most expensive type of contact lenses, you may want to explore ways to get them cheaply.I prefer buying my contact lenses from online stores. Make no mistake, the lenses you get on the Internet are the exact same lenses you would receive if you were to buy them from the doctor’s office. I like to buy online since the lenses I want are always in stock, and I am able to get them relatively quickly through the mail. Moreover, the selection of available lenses online is quite large, so even if you don’t wear a popular brand such as Acuvue Oasys, you should have no difficulty finding the contact lenses you need.

Now, let’s talk about prices. Daily disposables, as I mentioned, are the most expensive, and you may fight yourself spending $400 or more per year if you wear these types of lenses. Most other soft contact lenses can be used for a period of 2 – 4 weeks, and cost about half as much. There are two ways I know of to bring down the costs of contact lenses. The first is to use online coupons, rebates, and other special offers. If you are interested in this strategy, make sure you check out some bargains at lens.com, a popular contact lens store that offers rock bottom prices for name brand lenses.

Something else you can do is buy your contact lenses in bulk. I usually purchase a minimum of 6 boxes, which lasts me about a year and a half. The reason you want to do this is because you will be able to take advantage of volume discounts. Depending on the store, you may receive free shipping on large orders too. This is the case for Lens.com, and that is why they are one of my favorite contact lens stores.